Krafton again shatters quarterly earnings record in Q1

Krafton's life simulator game inZOI / Courtesy of Krafton

Game studio Krafton again shattered its quarterly earnings record in the first quarter of this year, facilitating double-digit growth in both revenue and operating profit.

The PUBG: Battlegrounds operator announced Tuesday it logged 874.2 billion won ($608.56 million) in sales and 457.3 billion won in operating profit, both on a consolidated basis. The numbers represent a 31.3 percent and 47.3 percent year-on-year increase.

Krafton shattered its own quarterly earnings record just six months after it posted 719.3 billion won in sales and 324.4 billion won in operating profit in the third quarter of last year.

By segment, the PC, mobile and console divisions recorded sales of 323.5 billion won, 532.4 billion won and 18.3 billion won, respectively.

The company explained that the diversification of its PUBG intellectual property (IP) and strong live service operations have led to the growth of PC sales, and the early success of its new title inZOI also contributed.

In the mobile segment, record-breaking sales were supported by premium item offerings, IP collaborations and localization strategies for Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI).

InZOI, a life simulator, set a sales record of more than 1 million copies just one week after early access began on March 28. The company said 95 percent of its sales were generated from overseas markets, stoking expectations that it could be a globally successful IP following PUBG.

Krafton said it plans to enhance its artificial intelligence technologies for the game, such as co-playable character (CPC) technology, to introduce new gameplay experiences while growing the IP into a major global franchise capable of sustaining long-term service worldwide.

Among new titles in the pipeline, the company noted that the survival simulation PC game Dinkum was officially launched on Wednesday after expanding the number of supported languages to 14.

Subnautica 2, which is scheduled for early access release later this year, is also gaining attention. Subnautica 2 currently ranks fourth on Steam’s wishlist rankings, and a development update video released last week garnered a combined 3 million views within 24 hours. During an earnings call, Krafton said it has high expectations for the title, emphasizing that it will avoid aggressive monetization strategies.

In India, Krafton said it aims to solidify its publishing position by building on the strong growth of BGMI. In March, Krafton secured managing control of Nautilus Mobile, acquiring the IP of Real Cricket, a leading mobile cricket game in India with over 250 million cumulative downloads and more than 10 million monthly active users.